Good afternoon party people and welcome to a Monday edition of Sundays with Uncle Ralph. I’m glad you all could make it. Have any trouble getting here? I’ve heard the internet pirates are especially bad on Mondays. Is this true? I don’t have any first hand experience because I write all of my material on cocktail napkins then email it to Sky from a computer at the local library. They let me pay by the hour with the loose change I store in my cupholders! It’s a lushlife. BTW seen the pitching ledger for the day? Yeah it’s pretty….ummmm…..ahhhh…hmmmm…how do I say this? Awful! Seriously the two highest priced pitchers are C.J. Wilson and Clay Buchholz and they face the Yankees and Blue Jays. The Streamonator rates them both as positive starters, C.J. is rated as the best start of the day while Clay barely makes the cut at a price of $1. I’m not sure I understand the Wilson love. He’s been in a two bad starts two good starts pattern for the past few months and his 7 run torture fest at the hands of the Houston Astros on Tuesday was the first bad start after a run of two good starts…..You know what that means. His opponent isn’t a cakewalk either, the Yankees rank 4th in wOBA vs LHP and they’re middle of the pack when it comes to road wOBA ranking 15th. I’d stay away from Wilson and dig in the dumpster pile, lots of extra bucks to throw at some hitters. Which brings me to my top choice of the day Mike Leake ($6,900). Seriously no one’s been this excited about Mike Leake since he left Arizona State. As long as we can keep him from the Macy’s T-shirt line, we should be good to go. Okay that’s not saying much but the SoN agrees pricing him at $6.5, the second highest value of the day. In the month of June he’s rocking a 2.54 ERA, a 7.09 k/9 and 1.64 Bb/9. So he’s on a bit of a hot streak. It’s not a ton to go on but on a day like today you have to take some chances. So unzip, breath deep, and take a Leake.
New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well try out this 25 teamer of Razzball writers and friends to wet your DK whistle. Just remember to sign up through us before you do. It’s how we know you care! If you still feel helpless and lonely, be sure to subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays.
Kendall Graveman, SP: $6,200 – It’s everybody’s favorite preseason rookie pitcher! After a rough start, and a one month siesta in the minors, Graveman has returned and found his stride. In the 7 starts since his return to the A’s rotation Graveman has been good, stringing together 6 quality starts and a 2.31 ERA. His FIP/xFIP over that time has been a bit iffy at 3.81/3.68, so some regression might be expected in the coming starts. I’m willing to over look that at a price of $6,200 and hope he gets over his home issues against the Rockies. Colorado isn’t awful on the road but they’re really a middle of pack offense away from Coors. It’s not a great matchup but not an awful one either. I’ll focus on the recent run of good results.
Lance McCullers, SP: $7,700 – Okay so I have a thing for Lance McCullers, I think that makes me a DFS cougar. Grrrrr….. He has the highest strikeout rate of anyone pitching today, and even if he faces a team that K’s less than anyone in the league it’s steal worth a roll in some contest lineups. It’s a tough matchup but McCullers has flashed enough upside to get a endorsement. Biggest worry here is he doesn’t make it out the 6th. He’s not typically economical with his pitches.
Jose Altuve, 2B: $4,800 – Alright I’m going to be very upfront about my next three picks. I’m stacking Astros against Joe Blanton today. There’s some history with a few of the Astros players including Altuve who’s 5/14 lifetime vs the KC righty. He’s been on a good run the last few weeks, hitting .303 with 8 runs and 4 steals in that time. No need to explain further I shouldn’t have to sell you on this former batting champ with a Napoleon complex.
Chris Carter, 1B: $4,400 – The ultimate all or nothing gamble Mr. Chris Carter. When he hits em he hits em big; when he doesn’t, he doesn’t, a lot. This is another BvP play as Carter has three homers in 8 at bats vs Blanton. I’m all about the contrarian play with power upside.
Carlos Correa, SS: $5,300 – Tell me that all of you saw his little league homer yesterday? If you haven’t google it. Kid has speed and power, power and speed. That’s like having a sundae with the two best types of ice cream, say coffee oreo and almond joy. It’s not going to get better than that even with gobs of peanut butter. Okay I just featured 4 straight Astros, I’m done now.
Chris Young, OF: $3,500 – Yankees face a lefty time to call Crispie. Swaggy B has been killing the game against southpaws this year, hitting .388 with 5 homers and 12 steaks. His lifetime numbers vs Wilson aren’t very good but I’ll ignore it and play him anyway. Keep up the redemption song Chris, emancipate from metal slavery.
Joey Votto, 1B: $4,800 – Some of you believe in BvP like I do and some of you think it’s a bunch of meaningless numbers. Sure there’s often very small sample sizes and you’re maybe skewed by a single dominate performance by a hitter. One thing I will argue till the day I take the Greyhound bus to the big casino in the sky is that power in BvP data shouldn’t be ignored. If there’s a disproportionate amount of homers in a limited number of at bats, pay attention. In 14 at bats against Mike Pelfrey, Votto has 3 homers. That’s why he gets the nod.
Ryan Braun, OF: $4,800 – Have you seen Sean O’Sullivan’s numbers? Have you seen Sean O’Sullivan pitch? Braun at Citizen’s vs O’sullivan seems like a go for me. No need for a ton of data, just see the matchup for what it is.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
We have one game with a real chance of rain in the Twins at Reds game in Cincy. Looks like the game should be played though. Only other weather related tidbit of note is the 12 mph wind blowing out to right in Oakland.
Doing Lines In Vegas
Surprisingly the Brewers are the biggest favorite of the day at -155, though Oakland isn’t far behind at -150. Vegas agrees with my McCullers loves favoring the Stros at -130. They give that game a total of 7.5, my guess is 5 of those projected runs belong to Blanton. The lowest total of the day is in the Cleveland at Tampa Bay game at 7.
Good luck players may the dollar$ reign on you this day……………..
